#ironminds

I know some of the most amazing people anywhere.  They’d give their shirts off of their backs for me.  They’d give me (or anyone else they care about) their last pennies.  I’m sure you know someone you feel that way about:  Great, honest, decent people.

I believe that most people do have good hearts and they do the right thing, and a vast majority of the time, they are honest and forthright.

Except when it comes to themselves and doing things that make them feel uncomfortable:  Working out after a tough day of work.  Starting that new business.  Moving to a new city.  Asking for that raise or promotion.

While they’d rather die than to tell a white lie, they’ll tell themselves anything in the world to make sure that they know they’ve justified why they aren’t willing to do something that is absolutely essential for their progress and growth.  They tell themselves “now just isn’t the time”, or “I had a crappy day and I need to just crash out” or “I need to play it safe for now” and almost believe it.

At least, they’ll sound like they “almost” believe it when they tell you why they didn’t workout:  Had some friends show up.  Work function. Got home really late and had to take care of the kids.  That business venture?  Had a few setbacks.  Needed the money for a family emergency.  

And why not? I mean, it’s easier to make excuses than it is to make a change.  That’s obvious by the levels of obesity we have in this country and the lack of job satisfaction that most people experience.

I can handle someone lying to me.  Hey, shit happens.  But once I finally woke the fuck up and looked in the mirror I had a tough heart to heart with myself, I couldn’t handle lying to myself.  

I had to have that conversation with myself...

Boyd, 

You are a fat fucking slob.  You drink too much.  You have everything anyone could want, but yet you’re miserable.  You’re going to die before you’re 45 because you’re terribly unhealthy and are getting worse every single day...

Sincerely, 

Your Fat Fucking Miserable Self

Acknowledgement is important.  One has to take responsibility for their actions, but it’s only the first step.  

Those words mean nothing without the massive action required to correct the behavior.

Is that being too hard on yourself?  No, fuck that.

Sometimes, we all need a nice kick in the ass to make us quit dreaming and putting things safely on our stupid “bucket lists”, and, instead, starting from scratch, today, with our “FUCK IT” Lists.

Getting sick of your situation is not enough.

Admitting your problems is not enough.

It takes all of the effort you have.  The shit is hard.  It takes work.  And that scares the fuck out of most people and they quit before they get started.

But at some point, you’ll be honest enough with yourself to kick your own ass and make sure that you’re ready to do whatever the fuck it takes to conquer the shit that is making you miserable.

Did you have a bad day, or did you have a bad few minutes that caused your undisciplined mind to run wild with your thoughts and spiral out of control, convincing you that the day was ruined?

Control your mind, control your life. You cannot stop what happens to you. But you have complete control over how you respond to those extraneous forces.

Training your body and repeatedly blasting through barriers that you perceived as almost impossible is an amazing way to train your wondering mind.